Survivor's guide to the Azalea home tour

Saturday

Apr 6, 2013 at 12:01 AM

The Azalea Festival Historic Home Tour offers a quick view of Port City architecture.

Presented by the Historic Wilmington Foundation as a showcase for preservation efforts, the Azalea Festival Historic Home Tour offers a quick view of Port City architecture. Nine homes and the historic Temple of Israel at Fourth and Market streets, North Carolina's oldest Jewish house of worship, are on this year's lineup.What you need to knowWhere to start: A good place would be the Alexander Sprunt House at 1615 Chestnut St., where the ribbon cutting for the tour officially takes place at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. A number of festival celebrities and local officials will be on hand (along with a cloud of hoop-skirted Azalea belles), and refreshments will be served. You'll also largely avoid traffic leaving downtown after Saturday morning's parade.Where to go: You can visit stops in any order, as many or as few as you like. If mansions are your thing, check out the Sprunt House, the nearby Emerson-Kenan House (official home of UNCW's chancellor) at 1703 Market St. or the William French House at 107 S. Fourth St. Something a little newer and homier: Check the Gilliard House at 2009 Wrightsville Ave., the Triyonis House at 2010 Creecy Ave. or the Cumming-Duls House at 120 Nun St. – cozy places more typical of where most Wilmingtonians lived over the years.For history lovers: Among your "must stops" will be the Temple building (completed in 1876) and the former Donald MacRae house, now the parish offices for St. James Episcopal Church at Third and Market streets. The Shingle-style structure was designed in part by Henry Bacon, the architect of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., who grew up in Wilmington.Where to get tickets: You can pick them up in advance from the Azalea Festival office, The Sterling House, The Ivy Cottage, The Fisherman's Wife, The Transplanted Garden and The Proper Garden. Area Harris Teeter groceries also offer them – and if you have a VIC card, you got $2 off the purchase price. On the days of the tour, tickets will be available at any location for $30.